Gheenoe Build

[OXN939]

So this is her, in the almost final form! A few of the bigger learning points so far:

-Gatorglide is sliiick. Like, you need to have at least three hard points between your boat and trailer or else it will absolutely slide off the bunks, slick. Think it turned out well despite the fact that I'm far from a pro. Did op test it on an oyster bed while hooked up to a fish yesterday and had a few very small scratches, but they were much smaller than I thought they'd be and definitely mitigated what would have shown up in the gelcoat. I'm saying "would recommend" if you have the bandwidth for an involved project.

-Flexdeck install is easier than I thought, just light sanding, acetone wipedown and stick it on. I had this stuff on my last boat and it wasn't showing any signs of deterioration after a year of fairly consistent use, so hopefully this will be similar. I really like having it on these microskiff type boats, but honestly next time I think I'd just get a few sheets off amazon and DIY it... having the boat measured and the pieces laser cut looks super sharp, but 850 bucks is steep. For a 20ish foot center console, apparently it can be upwards of 3 grand. Yikes.

-Have a few extra washers for your mounting bolts when installing a jackplate, even if the manufacturer sends you "all you need." The panicked Home Depot run while 5200 is curing is not the move. I also had a lot of anxiety about drilling the transom of my brand new hull and looked up all sorts of info on how to make that process as clean as possible... as it turns out, it's not that big a deal as long as you measure 10 times and drill once.

-Electronics for small boats are a great microcosm for how wild stuff has gotten in the last 10 years. I snagged a Garmin UHD2 on clearance from Academy for less than 300 bucks and it is some seriously awesome functionality. Super stoked to explore the full performance envelope on this with some schooling perch next month. One more note on this- used a "no drill" transducer pad and will absolutely be going that route with every boat I own in the future. 100% the way to go.

Last item inbound is a prop with slightly greater pitch to eliminate a little bit of ventilation I'm getting north of 4000 RPMs. Loving the "micro raptor" so far, though!

 

[Mt Al]

This is awesome, thanks for sharing!

 

[EastHumboldt]

Oxn939 is Tiger’s Rokslide handle…..

 

[kobx]

Thank you for posting this. Getting ready to redo a 15-4 highsider and I'm intrigued by the Gator Glide. How many gallons of base and gallons of final paint did you require?

 

[OXN939]

Thank you for posting this. Getting ready to redo a 15-4 highsider and I'm intrigued by the Gator Glide. How many gallons of base and gallons of final paint did you require?

I did a half gallon each of the base and gatorglide, which was way more than enough. If I were doing it again, I'd honestly just get one quart of the gatorglide and put on as many coats as 4/5 of that would get me, keeping 1/5 in reserve to do touch ups down the road.

 

[OXN939]

Another update that may be useful- got my prop situation taken care of. The stock prop on Merc 4 stroke EFIs is 9 pitch, and was ventilating or "slipping" over 14 kts. Picked up a Solas Amita 11 pitch prop off Ebay for 50 bucks and now cruise comfortably at 18, topping out around 24. Hadn't played with props in a minute, but this was a pretty easy and complete fix to what was initially a big issue. I'm sure there is still room for improvement, but it does everything I need it to as is.

After getting a few more hours on her oveer the last week, my overall assessment is that this thing is truly awesome and has reinforced my view that I'll never own another traditional boat in the lower 48 again. I've hit a few local lakes and rivers, got striper, reds, largemouth, white perch, blue cats, chain pickerel and crappie under her belt. I fished a solid half day yesterday wearing out a few big schools of upper and overslot redfish, and burned about $2.00 of fuel. Got to watch one eat happen within 10 feet of the boat, something I've never seen happen in a larger center console. Even got a few buddies up here scouring craigslist and FB marketplace to join the gang hah. Now to come up with three or four days in October to chase specks in the morning and bowhunt the afternoon...

 

[CricketKiller]

That's a sweet set-up! I've always wanted one of those little boats and if I actually lived on the lake or river, I’d have to have one.

 

[VernAK]

I've used canoes, square stern canoes and freight canoes for 60 years and I've found your boat to be intriguing but I have never seen one. Ya'll put too much gingerbread on em for my taste, but more folks will be looking at this type of boat for fuel efficiency in the future.

I'm concerned about the "sponsons". If I were to load heavily with a bull moose and the sponsons were below the water, how would the boat react under power. I understand the sponsons for stability when lightly loaded.

 

[OXN939]

I'm concerned about the "sponsons". If I were to load heavily with a bull moose and the sponsons were below the water, how would the boat react under power. I understand the sponsons for stability when lightly loaded.

The chines help with stability on step and grab the water nicely in turns, but 'noes aren't really for hauling big loads like a moose. With two pax and my 50 pound dog, mine's at max gross. Plus the fiberglass would be a little fragile for AK. Just got off the water in the Matsu area and the lakes would be about all you'd want to do with one up here

 

[jsider]

How is the stability? Can you stand and fight fish?

 

[FLS]

I grew up with a Gheenoe 13 footer and a 7.5 HP Merc. I had a boat long before I had a drivers license and ran that thing all over North Florida fishing and hunting. My youngest boy still has one. Great little boats.

 

[Green tide]

Cool thread and thanks for sharing.

I can't see in the pics, but did you bolt or clamp the outboard on? I've had issues with clamps riding up under load.

I have older an older 15.4 and 13 that I love in the marshes of the northeast. I haven't undergone a crazy rebuild yet but spent countless time on the microskiff forums. One day I'll get time and motivation.